New Artwork: Scale Matters

After years of looking at some big white spaces on our walls, the past two weeks have seen extraordinary progress.

Two weekends ago, I picked this painting up at an estate sale in Cobble Hill:

I love it!  I am especially excited to have found an abstract painting of this size that I like so much.  SO MUCH!

It is by a painter named Joe Clark and was included in a show of his work entitled "Ibizan Bitch" in January 1962 at Camino Gallery in NYC.  (A little history: Camino Gallery was one of a group of artist-run, cooperative galleries known as the "10th Street Galleries" located in the East Village in the 50's and early 60's.  Alice Neel and Elaine DeKooning, among many others, were members of Camino.)

Then, this past Sunday, I bought this painting from my next door neighbor at his stoop sale.  His mother painted it sometime in the 60's:

V loves this one.  She says she feels about it the way I feel about the first one.  So, that is good.

The two paintings are on opposite walls facing one another at one end of our living room.

So, what about it?  

Well, the first big takeaway here is that scale matters a lot.  For 15 years we have been hanging small pieces in these large spaces and it never looked right.  

The second takeaway is that hanging art immediately is the way to go.  We live with dozens (literally) of small pieces of artwork that are not hung - just leaning on top of things or stacked in closets.  With each of these paintings, I went straight out and bought hooks and set up my laser level on a tripod and hung them right away.  

Finally, I am inspired to hang more of the art we like which is lying about as soon as possible.  I don't really need to worry about putting holes in the walls that I might regret since the walls I'll be hanging them on are so beat up anyway that it can only be an improvement.  Time to get on that.

5 Favorites: Prouvé-Inspired Swing Arm Lights - Remodelista

https://www.remodelista.com/posts/5-favorites-prouve-inspired-swing-arm-lights/

Desk for Sadie

A couple options. One from ikea. One from overstock. 

Sculptor - Palm Springs show

Rugs on RugsUSA

There are more of the either very plain or very traditional style rugs in neutral colors that I would be fine with, but of everything else, this is what I come up with. This is also excluding synthetic rugs for now.

The trouble with blue paint is that other colors seem to garish next to it and more blue seems too blue. Gray seems safe.


http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-hk110-dimensional-triangles/Green/200HJHK110A-508.html

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-db02-hand-tufted-wool-fretted-diamonds/Grey/200MTDB02A-406.html

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-medallion-fl01/Grey/200GYFL01A-203.html

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-ks01-hand-tufted-tribal-arrowhead-border/Grey/200AIKS01A-508.html

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-sw01-eternal-palmette-knot-medallion/Grey/200RZSW01B-406.html

This above one is cotton, the rest are wool. 

West Elm Rugs

A bunch of rugs are on sale before the spring line comes out. All prices are for 9x12. I would be happy with any of these, but as I said, I want to balance out the temperature of whichever paint we pick with the rug. Currently leaning toward F & B blue, so a warmer rug.

1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10 are my faves.

1. Abstract wool rug, $979

2. Ashik wool. $839. Love these colors and the shag.

3. Bedouin shag kilim $650

4. Charm wool rug $959. Love this.

5. Marbled wool rug $839. If we went pink I think this would be a pretty way to tie it all down. Or blue. One of those light-colored ones that because it is so marbled I think would hide dirt actually.

6. Cascade rosette $909. Preeetty....

7. Distressed Ornament wool rug - rosette $979

8. Salma $1069.99

9. Watercolor Circles $559

10. Watercolor trellis blue $599.99. Shaggy, cheap(er) and easy to live with.

11. Watercolor trellis rug pink $1069.99

whoops - Kids room finalists

So the Farrow and Ball "borrowed light" turns out to be a really pretty pale blue-gray with a tiny bit of green. Very scandinavian and certainly unisex. Seriously considering for kids' room. I'm posting here alongside rug of the opposite temperature to show how much the rug color is going to influence the feeling of the room. 

Imagine Borrowed light walls with warm rug:

Or tissue pink walls with cool rug:

This balance is what I'm going for so it feels cozy and peaceful rather than like a baby's nursery or overly gendered.

Grays!

1. Gray Timber Wolf.

Classy. True gray but not too flat. Handsome. Not girly. Not too dark.

2. Gentleman's Gray.

Reads dark blue for sure. Handsome.

3. Sleepy Hollow

This is the more purple direction. I keep liking these kinds of grays in theory but then I'm freaked out they're gonna be really purple. I really don't want a purple room.

4. Wolf Gray. 

This is pretty great, I think. Classic and actually pretty cheerful for gray. Reads pretty blue. Hard to go wrong with this.

5. Gray Owl

Much lighter neutral. This color is beloved of designers for feeling "like a big warm hug". Has a teensy bit of green.

Guest Room Colors

My goals for this room: 

-calming, restful

-possibly more adventurous than we would be in our own room because the guest room is where you get to have a little fun

-color has depth even when doors are closed and there is no natural light (although honestly the kitchen doors are usually open)

1. Newburg Green

Newburg green room

2. November Rain

This is one of the colors you pick if you want white but don't have natural light in the space. It apparently can read greenish or grayish depending on the light.

3. Tranquility

4. Oil Cloth

This is the BM equivalent of Farrow and Ball's "Pigeon", which is gorgeous

Oil cloth on cupboards

5. Newburyport Blue